Thursday, 11 October 2012

We were fortunate enough to be part of yesterday’s BIMAD-Day schools initiative, a national event aimed at closing the skills gap in
the digital industry. Across the country digital agencies attended local schools
to mentor a day of digital creativity with the students.

Our welcoming hosts were Chaucer Technology School, here in
Kempt’s home town of Canterbury and appropriately enough we were to mentor a
class taking up the Mobile Apps challenge with the aim of submitting the
results to be judged in this national contest. Right up our street!

After getting over the shock of being back in school (so
much has changed, so much is exactly the same!) we settled into our roles of
pseudo-supply teachers to a room full of thirty Year 9s - “Year nine, YEAR
NINE!!!” became a regular refrain throughout the day! Fortunately the class seemed
to respond well to the day and were genuinely engaged.

Like most schools the suite of computers wasn't the most
current but the creative process isn't just about the speed of your processor
and the version of your software. The ideas began to fly around the room from
the word go, fuelled by a strong understanding of how apps work and a freedom to
think up new possibilities. We had ideas from the practical - very useful medical
and personal security apps - to the fantastically fanciful - pet translators
and open-ended games that tapped into your dreams!

One thing that struck us was how much time was actually spent
on the class PCs - just an hour in the afternoon. To us this seemed like a good
balance as what makes this industry so exciting isn't the technology itself but
what the possibilities it creates. However, we also left the students with a Flash demo app to pull apart and recreate. It's when you understand technology that things get really interesting - it fuels your imagination and turns brilliant ideas into brilliant products.